Self-erecting folding article

ABSTRACT

A self-erecting folding article as a stool, stand, cutting board, or block, comprising a main body portion, pivoted legs at each end thereof, a pivoted leg-holding strut between the legs, said strut being adapted to be folded down flatly onto the bottom of the main body portion and the legs folding over and holding the strut in folded position, a spring tending to erect the strut when released by the legs, and cooperating fastening means on the legs and the strut, said fastening means being of a relatively easily disrupted nature, i.e., strong enough to hold the legs in folded relation with respect to the strut, but weak enough to be disengaged merely by a downward push or jolt of the main body portion as by the hands of the user.

[ Apr. 23, 1974 SELF-ERECTING' FOLDING ARTICLE [76] Inventor: Eino E. Lakso, PO. Box 257,

Fitchburg, Mass. 01420 22 Filed: July 31,1972

21 Appl. No.: 276,744

[52] U.S. Cl, 108/133 [51] Int. Cl A47b 3/00 [58] Field of Search 108/115, 129, 130, 131, 108/132, 133; 297/438, 439

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,259,080 7/1966 Laroche 108/131 1,519,543 12/1924 Kubinyi 108/132 1,627,454 5/1927 Phalon 108/129 1,133,109 3/1915 Derbyshire.... 108/132 437,151 9/1890 Gore 108/115 X 3,641,947 2/1972 Finney e 248/206 A 2,786,337 3/1957 Spring 312/236 A UX Primary Examiner-Paul H. Gilliam Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Charles R. Pay

[57] ABSTRACT A self-erecting folding article as a stool, stand, cutting board, or block, comprising a main body portion, pivoted legs at each end thereof, a pivoted leg-holding strut between the legs, said strut being adapted to be folded down flatly onto the bottom of the main body portion and the legs folding over and holding the strut in folded position, a spring tending to erect the strut when released by the legs, and cooperating fastening means on the legs and the strut, said fastening means being of a relatively easily disrupted nature, i.e., strong enough to hold the legs in folded relation with respect to the strut, but weak enough to be disengaged merely by a downward push or jolt of the main body portion as by the hands of the user.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDAPR23 1914 3.805711 SHEET 1 BF 2 m m h lw 1 4 1 SELF-ERECTING FOLDING ARTICLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There have been many folding stools and other objects of furniture including pivoted legs and a pivoted strut between the legs for holding the legs in extended condition to support the stool, etc., but in all cases such prior art has required that the legs be folded out by hand before the strut is moved up to the position wherein it supports the legs in extended condition, and it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an automatically self-erecting folding stool etc., which is merely grasped by the operator and given a shake, whereupon the legs snap out as by gravity and the strut moves into leg supporting position, whereupon the stool is ready for use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The self-erecting stool, cutting board, etc. of the present invention comprises a top member, hinge supporting members mounted at the ends thereon, legs pivoted to the hinge supporting members and adapted to extend generally at right angles to the top to support the same, but at the same time being foldable downwardly towards but spaced from the top member; and a leg supporting strut pivoted on an axis at right angles to the leg axes and having a spring or similar means for causing it to become erect when released, said strut being in a plane with the hinge supporting members and underlying the legs when the same are folded. The strut is provided with a pair of holding members cooperating with the legs to hold the same in folded condition, the holding power thereof however being very light and being in the nature of e.g., light resilient springs which when the top member is grasped with the leg side down and given a little shake, the holding means is overcome by the inertia of the legs which move outwardly under gravity allowing the spring biased strut member to snap outwardly. The springs are free-ended leaf types and cooperate with portions of the hinges to hold the legs folded.

Magnets may be used instead of springs, magnetic keepers facing the magnets along a plane generally parallel to the direction of motion of the legs so that the keepers slide with respect to the magnets and not move away in the direction of the magnetic forces but at right angles thereto so that the magnetic action is more easily disrupted. A removable cutting board may be positioned on the top member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating the new self-erecting stool erect;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the stool folded, parts being in section;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view showing the legs and strut folded;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 1, and illustrating the spring action; and

FIG. 5 is a detail view showing magnetic holding means.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A top member generally indicated at is preferably l2. Adjacent its ends at its underside the top member 10 is provided with blocks or abutments 14 and 16 which may include integral or applied handles 18, 18. Each abutment also mounts one leaf 20 of a hinge having another leaf 22 and pintle 24. Mounted on the hinge leaves 22 are legs 26, 26 which fold inwardly over the bottom surface of top member but are spaced therefrom the distance of the thickness of the abutments 14, 16. The handlesare fixed in position.

A central strut generally indicated at 30 and having arms 32, 32 is pivoted on hinges 34, 34, the axis of which are at right angles to the pintles 24. The arms 32, 32 terminate in feet 36, 36 and there is provided a spring 38 which has one end connected to the bottom side of top member 10 and the other end connected to the strut, see FIG. 4. By this means the strut is biassed upwardly to its extended condition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The feet 36 abut stop members 40 which are located on the inside aspects of the legs 26 midway of the ends of the legs positioning the strut in leg locking position under influence of spring 38 as will be clear.

In order to fold the footstool the strut is manually folded down and the legs folded on top of it and the legs are held in this position by means of catches each of which as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a free ended spring 42 secured in a recess 44 in the bottom of the top member 10. The springs extend down from the top member and terminate in outwardly facing bent portions 44 forming cams which extend past hinge leaf 20 at all times and past hinge leaf 22 when the legs are folded, FIG. 2. The legs each have a recess 48 accommodating the cams, and hinge leaf 22 in part overlies the recess 48 so that the spring cams 46 snap past the edges of leaves 22 to hold the legs folded over the strut. When so folded the stool, etc., is easily stored in closet, or on shelf, or hung on a hook.

In order to extend the stool attention is directed to FIG. 2 in which the hands of the user are shown grasping the handles 18. With the legs and strut folded the user merely gives a little shake to the device as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2 and this is enough to cause a release of the spring cams from the hingeleaves 22 so that the legs fall to their extended position by gravity, and the strut being spring biased then pivots out'and contacts the stops 40 and locks the legs in extended position. It will be seen that it is not necessary to touch any parts of the device except the handles or top member and to give the same a little shake. The springs are made to be relatively weak and although they hold the parts closed or folded nevertheless the slight shake described above causes release of legs 26 by release of the extending edges of the hinge plates 22 by the spring through inertia and then the spring and the strut finishes the erection of the legs and the locking thereof as before.

As an alternative, shown in FIG. 5, a pair of magnets 50 may be secured to one side only of the strut, at the same side as spring 38. These magnets are spaced and keeper members are positioned on the legs as at 52. When the legs are folded the keeper members are in registry with the magnets and therefore this connection, which comprises a member on the strut and a member on each one of the legs, holds the legs in folded position thereby holding the strut in folded position and in this condition the stool may be easily stored. When the shake is applied, as before, the magnets release easily because keepers 52 move away from the magnets by means of a sidewise or a lateral wiping motion, it being well known that it is much easier to separate magnets by sliding them laterally relative to each other than by merely pulling them off directly in the direction lines of force of the magnet.

The positioning of the legs relative to the top member and the hinges is such that weight on the top member is supported by the tops of the legs and the hinge pins are not strained in any way by the weight. Also the legs are locked against outward motion by the load thereon and the fact that the top member bears directly on the legs. This is accomplished by the position of the hinges ration are applied to the underside of the cutting board to position it on the stool. This cutting board is not attached to the stool I claim: 1. A self-erecting articlecomprising a top member, legs pivotally associated with said top member there and is easily stored also.

being one leg at each end of said top adjacent a side. edge thereof, a strut, 'said strut comprising a central portion and a pair of generally oppositely extending arms, said strut being flat and rigid, means pivoting said central portion of the strut to said top member at the underside thereof on an axis at right angles to the pivot axis of the legs, the arms joining the-central portion in spaced relation to said axis, spring means extending at approximately a right angle from said strut toward one edge of said top member for biasingsaid strut to extended condition outwardly from the top member, said strut having a length equal to the distance between the legs when extended and locking the same in extended condition, and releasable fastening means located on said top member andcooperating fastening means located on each leg for lightly holding the legs in folded relationship over the folded strut, said releasable fastening means comprising a pair of spring clips mounted on the underside of said top member, each of said spring clips being located underneath a respective one of said legs when the leg is folded under said top member, each leg having a recess for receiving one of said spring clips, the cooperative fastening means on each leg being located adjacent said recess for releasably securing said spring clip within said recess, said spring clips having a strength allowing separation thereof from said cooperative fastening means upon a relatively slight shake applied to the top member.

2. The article of claim 1 wherein each spring clip has a free end portion extending downwardly, and a latch member on each spring in the form of a cam, and whereinv the cooperating means on the legs comprises the exposed edge portion of a leaf hinge, the hinge pivotally mounting the leg to the top member.

3. The self-erecting article according to claim 1 together with handle means extending longitudinally from each end of the top member beyond the line of pivotal attachment of the legs.

4. The self-erecting article according to claim 3 wherein said handle means extending from each end of said top member comprises an outwardly projecting handle portion, and an abutment portion, means securing said abutment portion on the underside of said top adjacent one of said end edges, each of said legs having a centrally positioned elongated notch adjacent the top edge thereof for straddling said handle portion of one of said handles, the leaf hinge for each leg being secured to the abutment portion of one handlemeans for pivotally mounting said leg in straddled relationship relative to said handle portion, said abutment portion providing stop means for limiting pivotal movement of said legs beyond erected positions from said collapsed position. 

1. A self-erecting article comprising a top member, legs pivotally associated with said top member there being one leg at each end of said top adjacent a side edge thereof, a strut, said strut comprising a central portion and a pair of generally oppositely extending arms, said strut being flat and rigid, means pivoting said central portion of the strut to said top member at the underside thereof on an axis at right angles to the pivot axis of the legs, the arms joining the central portion in spaced relation to said axis, spring means extending at approximately a right angle from said strut toward one edge of said top member for biasing said strut to extended condition outwardly from the top member, said strut having a length equal to the distance between the legs when extended and locking the same in extended condition, and releasable fastening means located on said top member and cooperating fastening means located on each leg for lightly holding the legs in folded relationship over the folded strut, said releasable fastening means comprising a pair of spring clips mounted on the underside of said top member, each of said spring clips being located underneath a respective one of said legs when the leg is folded under said top member, each leg having a recess for receiving one of said spring clips, the cooperative fastening means on each leg being located adjacent said recess for releasably securing said spring clip within said recess, said spring clips having a strength allowing separation thereof from said cooperative fastening means upon a relatively slight shake applied to the top member.
 2. The article of claim 1 wherein each spring clip has a free end portion extending downwardly, and a latch member on each spring in the form of a cam, and wherein the cooperating means on the legs comprises the exposed edge portion of a leaf hinge, the hinge pivotally mounting the leg to the top member.
 3. The self-erecting article according to claim 1 together with handle means extending longitudinally from each end of the top member beyond the line of pivotal attachment of the legs.
 4. The self-erecting article according to claim 3 wherein said handle means extending from each end of said top member comprises an outwardly projecting handle portion, and an abutment portion, means securing said abutment portion on the underside of said top adjacent one of said end edges, each of said legs having a centrally positioned elongated notch adjacent the top edge thereof for straddling said handle portion of one of said handles, the leaf hinge for each leg being secured to the abutment portion of one handle means for pivotally mounting said leg in straddled relationship relative to said handle portion, said abutment portion providing stop means for limiting pivotal movement of said legs beyond erected positions from said collapsed position. 